"Strangers." || h.s au

[21] One More Broken Heart

Harry.

Oh my fucking...

"Harry? What- what are you doing here?" Nicole looks at me as she cleans up pieces of the teacup. She definitely was caught off guard.

"I um went home for a week for Christmas." This sudden awkward encounter caused me to be taken back.

"Oh.. Um." I stutter.

She avoids my gaze. "I-I."

I call for the lad that took my order and asked him to clean the broken shards of the teacup and I thank him.

"Can I talk to you?" I say lowly.

"I uh, I'm waiting for my brother.." She trails off.

The boy that took my order speaks up, "His shift was changed today Nicole, James left hours ago for Christmas Eve." I look at his name tag, Allen.

I look at her, raising a brow as Allen leaves again, tidying up the place as the majority of the people left.

Nicole gazes back and forth between me and Allen and she gives in.

"Yeah alright." She sighs. "I'm just going to get my coat."

Seconds later, we head out and walked to my car. It's quite chilly and I turn the heat a bit. "First off, I didn't know you I was going to see you and I'm sorry."

"For what?" She asks but I know she exactly knows what I'm talking about.

"For leaving you.." This was such a sudden encounter, and I just instantly knew I had to speak with her.

Her blue eyes widen. It's bluer than ever, it even shines in dim lighting. "I'm not flattering myself or anything but please don't tell me you want me back." She shakes her head slowly. "It's been a year and a half, Harry, I don't-"

"I'm not.." I trail off.

She sighs. "It took me a long time to get over you..." She avoids my gaze again, trying to look out the window.

"I know, I-uh. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I broke her heart and I know these won't ever take anything back but it's all I could do.

"Why did you make me fall for you Harry?" Her voice cracks a bit but she's strong. She's always been a strong woman that holds her head high and it's one of the many qualities why there was something special about her. But she simply wasn't the one for me. She deserved better more than me.

"I..." I really couldn't say anything.

"I don't understand why you let me love you when you knew you couldn't say it back." She purses her lips, mending the frown.

"I was broken then. I needed something. I needed a-"

"Distraction." She finishes my sentence and it is incredibly disappointing that, that is the perfect word for that situation. She doesn't mean in a sexual way, in an emotional way.

"No I don't mean it like that."

"Well I'm sorry too, I just couldn't fix you, that's it." She says lowly.